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07/09/2010 - Clermont-Ferrand, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A quality French team, led by Gael Monfils, has a 2-0 lead against reigning two-time champion Spain in their best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal in France.
The world No. 17 Monfils outlasted gritty 12th-ranked Spaniard David Ferrer in five sets, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, in Friday's opening singles rubber. The flashy Frenchman swatted 21 aces and prevailed in just under four hours in a marathon rubber on the indoor hardcourt at Zenith Grande Halle d'Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand.
World No. 35 Michael Llodra then gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 advantage by overcoming 10th-ranked fellow lefthander Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Llodra pulled off the upset in 3 hours, 25 minutes, as the Frenchman tallied four service breaks, while Verdasco settled for only one.
Saturday's doubles currently call for a French tandem of Llodra and Julien Benneteau to battle a Spanish duo of Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, while Sunday's reverse singles currently pit Monfils against Verdasco and Llodra versus Ferrer.
France is captained by Guy Forget, while Spain is led by former French Open champ Albert Costa, who guided the Spaniards to another title last season.
The French team also has Gilles Simon at its disposal, while Spain has Nicolas Almagro on its bench. World No. 1 superstar and reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Rafael Nadal decided against playing for Spain this week.
Spain is 5-1 all-time versus France, who won the first meeting between the two nations way back in 1923. The Spaniards have won four of the last 10 Davis Cup championships, including a victory over the Czech Republic in last year's finale.
The France-Spain winner will meet the Argentina-Russia victor in the semifinals in September.
<< Tennessee football players involved in bar brawl
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Tennessee football program
had six players reportedly involved in a fight at a Knoxville bar early Friday
morning.
Two of the six have been arrested thus far, according to the Knoxville
<< Clarke pushes lead to three in Scotland
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Clarke carded a four-under 67 in
steady rain Friday to extend his lead to three strokes after two rounds of the
Scottish Open.
Clarke, who led by one after the first round, completed 36 holes at
<< Stoudemire deal becomes sign-and-trade
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks announced Friday that the
deal for Amare Stoudemire is a sign-and-trade agreement with the Phoenix Suns.
Stoudemire agreed to join the Knicks earlier this week and a deal was
anno
<< Spain must make the most of rare opportunity
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For countries like Brazil, Italy and
Germany, success in the World Cup is passed down from generation to
generation, almost like a hereditary trait.
The ability to perform at the highes
Fish swims into Newport semis >>
Newport, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Mardy Fish was a hard-fought
quarterfinal winner Friday at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
The American Fish came from behind to dismiss Canada's Frank Dancevic 6-7
(6-8), 6-4, 6-4 on th
Hawks sign rookie G Crawford >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have signed rookie guard
Jordan Crawford.
The Hawks acquired Crawford in a draft night trade from New Jersey last month.
The Nets took the Xavier product with the 27th pick.
Crawford
Giants place reliever Runzler on DL, recall Martinez >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants placed reliever Dan
Runzler on the 15-day disabled list on Friday with a dislocated left kneecap
The 25-year-old left-hander suffered the injury in Thursday's win over the
Milwau
Panthers sign third-rounder Edwards >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers have signed third-round
draft pick Armanti Edwards.
Edwards was taken 89th overall in April's draft after a successful four-year
run as quarterback at Appalachian State. The Panthers
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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